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* Sun-Times…
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., slammed Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Thursday for not endorsing Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump during his convention prime time address on Wednesday night.
“If you are invited to speak at the convention, though, you have to endorse him,” said Kinzinger, who is so reluctant to embrace Trump as his party’s nominee that he has been sitting on the fence for months.
“This is Donald Trump’s convention,” Kinzinger said on CNN. “He won the primary fair and square.”
Kinzinger said he was “blown away” with Cruz’s speech, where he urged Republicans to “vote their conscience” rather than say straight up to cast their ballots for Trump.
“I think it was ludicrous of Ted Cruz to do it, and it’s obviously political posturing for whatever comes next,” Kinzinger said.
Trump himself tweeted that he read the speech beforehand and allowed it to proceed. As I recall, the deal he cut with Cruz a while back to speak at the convention didn’t include any promises that Cruz endorse the nominee. Back in March, Trump rescinded his pledge (agreed to with the other candidates) to back the eventual nominee. And after all that, the Trump campaign scheduled Cruz to speak Wednesday night in prime time ahead of a speech given by Trump’s son and his vice presidential nominee.
All that said…
* The Question: Do you agree with Congressman Kinzinger? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:23 pm
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Voted no. As far as I’m concerned, this is America and Cruz can say whatever he wants, especially if he was invited and already spoke to Drumpf
Comment by Clark Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:25 pm
Voted No. It is the Republican Party Convention, not the Donald Trump Party convention.
Comment by Pawn Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:28 pm
I voted no. Cruz will get backlash for not just declining the invite to speak, but Trump knew what kind of campaign he ran against Cruz, and he still put him up there without a promise to endorse.
Comment by Century Club Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:32 pm
Voted no because kinzinger is being a hypocrite. Kinzinger hasn’t endorsed trump and has said his endorsement, if and when it comes, will be tepid at best.
Comment by Huh? Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:33 pm
voted yes, Trump is the nominee. If you don’t want to give some sort of endorsement then don’t speak at the convention. Give your non-endorsement at some other forum.
Comment by sonny chiss Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:33 pm
Voted no, since the last I heard was we had freedom of speech in the USA.
Comment by illinoised Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:34 pm
didnt vote. it’s all white noise.
Comment by Saluki Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:36 pm
No. It’s not like Trump expected the endorsement anyway and in turn he probably benefited from Cruz’s speech. Cruz didn’t hurt Trump, only himself.
Comment by Wensicia Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:37 pm
No. It was the incompetence of the Trump campaign to let anyone near the stage who they didn’t have 100% confidence in. Kinzinger and others can try to spin this any way they want, but the reality is that Donald Trump made a huuuuge mistake.
If he can’t manage a convention, how is he supposed to run an administration?
Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:37 pm
Voted No. It’s the Republican National Convention, not Trump’s convention. I don’t care for Cruz. But to say that Cruz should endorse Trump sounds like the “political correctness” that Trump has been against.
Comment by A Jack Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:37 pm
Voted no. If Trump read the speech beforehand, then it appears to be a calculated gamble that both men were willing to make.
Comment by Nick Name Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:38 pm
Voted “no”, as you stated Trump already reneged on the pledge why does Cruz have to adhere?
Comment by JS Mill Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:38 pm
@ Saluki - “…it’s all white noise.”
At the GOP convention….literally that is true.
Comment by How Ironic Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:38 pm
Voted no. Pretty amazing to hear somebody booed for saying “vote your conscience”
Comment by jake Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:42 pm
No. Kinzinger is a hypocrite.
Asked by POLITICO Editor Susan Glasser whether he would be voting for Trump in the fall, Kinzinger said, “I’m not there yet.”
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/trump-nato-adam-kinzinger-225960
Comment by Anon221 Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:43 pm
Kinzinger himself just told Politico he isn’t sure he can vote for Trump now after his NATO comments. Get off the high horse.
Comment by hisgirlfriday Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:44 pm
No. Quite surprising how many Republican are willing to compromise their core principles and jump on the Trump bandwagon. He is the antithesis of what the party claims to be.
Kudos to Cruz, Kasich and Kirk for staying true to their values.
Comment by Dance Band on the Titanic Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:47 pm
Yes - Ted is posturing he knows trump is going to lose so he wants to set himself up for 2020 or 2024.
Comment by atsuishin Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:48 pm
Voted “No”
“Why?”
The only way a Nominee wants a Cruz speech to happen is to continue the Reality Show feel that is the Trump Campaign and Nomination.
This is either ridiculous, gross malpractice, or a “script” of the “unscripted” show.
Both are… well, silly.
Both are unforced “errors”
Voted “No”
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:54 pm
As they say in the arsenate- the reason most people instantly hate Cruz is because it saves time
Comment by Sue Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:55 pm
No vote here, while normally a tin-foil hat idea and seeing that Trump saw the speech prior, this is more of a media grabbing attention ploy from the Trump campaign. I don’t suspect Cruz is a willing participant, but who knows anymore. It’s really a win-win for Trump and Cruz, I imagine more people tune in to see tonight’s craziness as a result and it also gives Cruz another newscycle.
Comment by Jon Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:55 pm
No - and he wasn’t the only speaker not to endorse last night. Astronaut Eileen Collins’s distributed speech had a Trump endorsement (or very close to it) and her speech as delivered was missing those lines. This was an uncontrolled mess of a convention that found few speakers other than those with future political aspirations, such as Adam Kinzinger. When you need to fill slots with every family member, you’re going to have a lot of issues like this.
Comment by Archiesmom Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:56 pm
Voted no.
If Trump wanted Cruz to explicitly endorse him in exchange for a live, prime-time speech at the RNC, then Trump should have negotiated a better deal.
– MrJM
Comment by @MisterJayEm Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:58 pm
No, people this is WWE style political theater. Guys you’ve got to have a villain in these shows. You’ve got the good guy, you’ve got the bad guy. He knows full well that Cruz’s ego alone wouldn’t let him concede. If/when Trump loses Cruz stock will go up. Only if Trump wins will Cruz lose. It’s a pretty good bet. In the meantime Trump gets his villain. It’s a win win.
Comment by Honeybear Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:01 pm
Voted Yes. But not surprised by these results here. The winner runs the convention. That’s been the case for quite some time. Trump saw the speech and knew what Cruz was (not) going to do and welcomed him anyway. Works for Trump in this case. Watching Cruz speak to the TX delegation this morning, most of whom supported him, he was not greeted warmly. It was a display of sour grapes. Being invited was a positive gesture. He could have helped himself. He didn’t.
Comment by A guy Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:03 pm
If you’ve ever seen the smallest amount of professional wrestling you know the campaign strategy and organization of the Trump campaign. Think about it.
Comment by Honeybear Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:03 pm
Voted no. Trump needed speakers so badly, he knew Cruz wouldn’t support him and still had him speak. It made the boring convention more interesting, Trump loves anything that gives him more attention, so it was a win for him I think.
Comment by Decatur gal Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:06 pm
No. If someone isn’t saying what you want to hear, don’t invite them to speak. Now I have about as much of a problem overall with Cruz than I do with Trump, but some of the attacks on Cruz and his family were beyond the pale. I certainly couldn’t forgive and forget and lean toward I think it was wordslinger’s comment that they were worthy of giving Trump a mouthful of Chicklets. Also, if the roles were reversed, I’m convinced Trump would have done the exact same thing.
Comment by Ron Burgundy Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:06 pm
I do expect next week that Bernie, despite his huge differences, will support the winning nominee. He’s a guy who has a right to feel snookered with the super delegate process on the Democrat side. I suspect he’ll respond in a more principled way than Ted. Oddly, I think Ted and Trump agree on a lot more than Bernie and Hillary do. This is a funny business.
Comment by A guy Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:06 pm
Huh? I mean what Huh? said…. sums up my thought as well.
Comment by Ghost Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:07 pm
Voted No. 1)Unless of course, an endorsement was required in writing by the campaign (Trump said he read the speech and was okay with it) 2)Trump attempted to link Cruz’s dad with JFK’s assassination. Why would he endorse the guy?
Comment by Ducky LaMoore Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:09 pm
===But not surprised by these results here.===
Ugh.
What about the results wasn’t surprising?
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:09 pm
Yes the Canadian anchor baby needs to assimilate to America
Comment by Rabid Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:12 pm
I voted NO. Normally, I would have agreed. One does not go to the party with intentions of shaming the host.
But here, the news is reporting that Cruz made clear that he would not endorse and in fact sent his speech in advance — which Trump acknowledged.
If Trump did not stop it after reading the script, I can hardly condemn Cruz for his personal grudge over the things Trump said about the Cruz family.
Comment by Politically Incorrect Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:15 pm
No. Cruz told Trump in advance he wasn’t endorsing him, whether or not Trump saw the actual speech is immaterial. Trump knew how Cruz felt about him. Never give someone a pulpit unless you can handle the sermon.
Either rename the party the Trump party or make room for the rest of us under the tent. Cruz isn’t the only Republican who doesn’t support Trump. If you boo Cruz, you boo me- and I’m not a conservative.
Comment by Thoughts Matter Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:17 pm
Abstained
When is the campaign going to be about something.other than what Donald Trump just said and every GOP politiciandown to Edwards County dogcatcher thinks about Donald Trump just said
Comment by train112 Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:19 pm
No. As 47th W and others have said, this was a major tactical error by the Trump campaign and RNC in managing the convention. Unless, of course, knowing that Cruz is already running for 2020, Trump decided to let the speech go forward and allow Cruz to further damage his standing in the GOP.
Comment by Just Chilling Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:20 pm
OW, It’s not surprising that most people are voting no. 2 to 1 in the poll, and even more dramatic in the comments. It’s very consistent with the commentary here. Trump isn’t an easy guy to defend for a lot of GOP folks, especially the more conservative ones. He’s very easy to criticize, much of it through his own actions.
He’s definitely tapped into a discontent feeling in the electorate. I could sense it in the primary. People were quietly rationalizing a reason to support him. And they did. I said on another thread how “uncanny” it seemed to me that so many critics were so intensely watching the convention. They’ve been so boring for so long that few networks even covered them. You had to watch C Span for heaven’s sake.
And here we are. People will watch next week just to see and compare this week. Politics is interesting to a lot of people who have tuned out for a long time or never tuned in. Something great may be happening here. It’s unpredictable, that’s for sure.
Comment by A guy Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:21 pm
===Trump saw the speech and knew what Cruz was (not) going to do and welcomed him anyway.===
Lol, if you believe that you probably have a degree from Trump University on your wall.
===Oddly, I think===
LOLOL, you should have just stopped typing right there (or instead said “I think oddly). The rest of that sentence makes zero sense to anyone who’s been paying attention.
Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:22 pm
The speech was presented before he gave it. He was allowed to give his speech at the forum. So I voted No. Trump knew it would become a subject of conservation, keeps Trump in the public eye for free.
This election will be a source for study for political junkies for a generation or more.
Comment by FormerParatrooper Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:24 pm
==When is the campaign going to be about something.other than what Donald Trump just said and every GOP politiciandown to Edwards County dogcatcher thinks about Donald Trump just said==
The first Wednesday of November?
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:26 pm
===Trump isn’t an easy guy to defend for a lot of GOP folks, especially the more conservative ones. He’s very easy to criticize, much of it through his own.===
Trump could’ve denied Cruz to speak unless “X”
Trump choosing to let Cruz speak was a choice.
Cruz made it very clear - no endorsement.
Trump let Cruz speak anyway. Trump could’ve taken away the podium time.
These aren’t opinions, or even commentary.
Your “commentary” on assessing facts… yikes.
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:27 pm
I found new respect for Ted Cruz last night. He was my “winner” of the convention for sticking to his convictions. Trump and his team were the “losers” in this instance. It showed a total lack of planning and management on their part.
Comment by Fairness and Fairness Only Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:32 pm
=He’s definitely tapped into a discontent feeling in the electorate.=
More like fanned the flame of irrational fear.
Comment by JS Mill Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:34 pm
No. Contrary to Kinzinger’s claim that it is “Donald Trump’s convention, it is in fact the “Republican National Convention.” Trump won the nomination, not the unconditional support of every Republican in America. I may not agree with anything Cruz says and find him to be abhorrent, but he did the right thing and had every right to do it.
Comment by AlfondoGonz Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:36 pm
Despite the %’s being 66% to 33%, I’m only seeing one person explain their “yes” vote. Why am I not surprised that Trump supporters cannot provide reasoning for their positions?
Comment by AlfondoGonz Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:38 pm
===Trump choosing to let Cruz speak was a choice.===
I agree with your entire set of facts Willy, especially this one. Time will tell whether the choice was good, bad or indifferent.
Outside of this forum, Ted isn’t enjoying huge support. I’m not so sure he’s even enjoying much here. lol.
47, we know Trump saw the speech. We know it didn’t include an endorsement. We know he was still invited to speak. We know he did.
What great doctorate from what great institution do you possess to dispute those facts?
The more I read your comments, the more I think you and Ted would be really close friends. /s
Comment by A guy Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:45 pm
===Despite the %’s being 66% to 33%, I’m only seeing one person explain their “yes” vote. Why am I not surprised that Trump supporters cannot provide reasoning for their positions?===
Because it’s such a rewarding experience Gonz!! lol.
Comment by A guy Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:46 pm
From the NYT:
“Trump advisers said on Wednesday night that Mr. Trump had been unhappy with the text of Mr. Cruz’s speech but held out for the remote possibility that Mr. Cruz would make a last-minute endorsement.”
Hope is not a plan.
I got my doctorate from the School of Paying Attention. Trump is a pathological liar. Why do you keep defending him? Your BFF can’t run away from him fast enough, I’m surprised you missed the memo.
Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 4:04 pm
Oops! I accidentally deleted a “Yes” vote commenter. Sorry about that. Was aiming for somebody else and missed.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 4:13 pm
Voted no. After being dubbed “Lyin’ Ted Cruz” by Trump, is it any wonder Cruz didn’t endorse Ronald McDonald Trump?
Kinzinger is trying to play this for the best advantage to Kinzinger, and so far he hasn’t figured out what that is yet.
Comment by Streator Curmudgeon Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 4:18 pm
Yes the Glenn beck teabaggers and constitutionalist have a since of entitlement that they don’t have to play by the rules
Comment by Rabid Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 4:27 pm
Cruz made a deal,he wouldn’t fight putting his name into nomination if Trump gave him a speaking role. Trump knew what Cruz’s speech was going to say, and more importantly not say.
What made it a spectacle, is that Trump’s folks had their Whip’s on the floor getting everybody to boo…and that turned a speech into an incident.
BTW, I’m a diehard Cruz supporter, from when he ran for Senate here in Texas. I think I sighed on to his campaign when he was polling about 6%. I think the speech was fantastic.
Because, really….if you have an issue with a person telling you to vote your conscience for somebody that will follow the constitution, then you really are supporting the wrong candidate.
Comment by Doug Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 4:32 pm
The Congressman is right in part and wrong in part.
To the extent that he believes that the speakers should back Trump, he’s right. This was not the time or place for airing of grievances.
However, this was not Cruz’s fault but Trump’s. Trump’s people had to be in control. They need to run a professional campaign.
This is yet another example of the failure of Team Trump to run a real campaign.
Comment by Gooner Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 4:33 pm
Yes
Conventions these days are amoral political circuses, and the performers should play their parts, or not be allowed in the center ring.
The error was not Cruz’s, but the show’s director.
Comment by walker Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 4:34 pm
“I do expect next week that Bernie, despite his huge differences, will support the winning nominee.”
Seems very likely since Sanders has already endorsed HRC, e.g. http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/11/politics/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/
“He’s a guy who has a right to feel snookered with the super delegate process on the Democrat side.”
During the Democratic primaries, HRC won 2,205 pledged delegates and Sanders won 1,846. If Sanders had won a majority of pledged Democratic delegates, one could make a principled argument about whether the super-delegates should switch their votes from HRC. But he didn’t.
“I suspect he’ll respond in a more principled way than Ted.”
Apparently, admonishing Americans to “Stand and speak and vote your conscience” strikes some as unprincipled. Okay.
“Oddly, I think Ted and Trump agree on a lot more than Bernie and Hillary do.”
According to GovTrack.us data, Bernie Sanders voted with Hillary Clinton about 93 percent of the time during the years when their Senate careers overlapped.
By contrast, in 2004, when Ted Cruz was serving as the Republican Solicitor General of Texas, Donald Trump told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, “In many cases, I probably identify more as Democrat. It just seems that the economy does better under the Democrats than the Republicans.”
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
– MrJM
Comment by @MisterJayEm Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 4:37 pm
While I find Cruz to be a bit creepy, he did what he believed was morally right and didn’t sell out. Chris Christie on the other hand, couldn’t sell out quick enough.
Comment by burbanite Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 4:44 pm
You knew what he was when you picked him up.
Comment by Excessively Rabid Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 5:06 pm
voted yes. I’m not generally a Trump supporter, and he has nothing to do with my reason.
It’s just bad form, no matter who the players are.
He should have just declined to speak or not gone to the convention at all.
Comment by anon Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 5:38 pm
Bernie was not snookered by the delegate process. that is a myth. he lost the elected delegate count by more than Obama beat Hillary on elected delegates. super delegates in 2008 switched to Obama. and Michigan had some problems in delegate allocation which should have meant more for Hillary but did not. but since Hillary is an actual Democrat, and has been helping other Dems win since the early 1970s, she gets it. and so after a good fight, she folded immediately and supported Barack. Bernie finally got it, learning after years of feeding off the Dems and contributing nothing much. now it’s time for others to join in. Trump is too scary to stomach. if I were a Republican I would feel that way too, especially after today’s NATO comments. Paul Manafort worked for years for Putin’s Ukraine puppet candidate. what does that mean in this equation? more and more scary every day.
Comment by Amalia Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 5:50 pm
HA! I didn’t even read Honeybear’s comments until now.
I wouldn’t be surprised if, once the campaign is over, and the tell-all books come out, that is. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Vince McMahon or someone else at WWE was a clandestine consultant to the Trump campaign.
Comment by jerry 101 Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 6:31 pm
Mister Jay Em,
Hillary did win the pledged delegate count, but she and her supporters heavily played up that she was leading with so many superdelegates (who could have easily switched candidates if Bernie were to take the lead in pledged delegates) to help build her air of inevitability. That created an extra barrier for Bernie to hurdle. I would imagine more than a few people just voted for Hillary, or (more likely) skipped voting, rather than voting for Bernie because it seemed like a losing cause. So, that could have cost him some pledged delegates. Enough to overcome her lead in pledged delegates? Probably not, but he has a legitimate gripe. And while I expect that he’ll reinforce his support of HRC, I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t become an activist against the whole superdelegate thing after the fact. I’m not crying over spilled milk here. Bernie did way better than I ever expected he would do, but one thing the Clinton campaign did really, really right was build that aura of inevitability.
Also, with regards to the 93%. That means rather little. That just means that they normally voted the same on bills that actually made it to the senate floor. How many of those 93% are for naming post offices? What do the 7% consist of? And what about their views on bills that never made it to the floor? How about how they voted in committees or even how they worked to shape legislation. There is a chasm as wide as the Grand Canyon of difference between HRC and Bernie. Voting records mean relatively little when it comes to the core values of a candidate.
Comment by jerry 101 Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 6:45 pm
HRC won the pledged delegate count by a greater margin than Barack won it over her in 2008. do the math. this entire, “people would have voted….if they didn’t think this” , or “if they knew (insert policy here) about Bernie, if the sky were purple and unicorns flew by, Bernie would have won.” wrong. he was not close to winning. it’s just not true.
Comment by Amalia Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 8:08 pm